Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

As Sectlord Nine Yangs furiously tried to come up with a way to ensure Yang Qi’s death, one of the old-timers said, “In the Heaven-Dao Operation God-Temple, that punk Dragon Proudheaven actually captured Dragon King. It was a real shock, and it scared some of the old-timers so badly that they didn’t want to do anything to him. They don't want to risk the humiliation of a defeat.”

“True. But if we don't get rid of this kid, it’s only going to lead to more problems.

“Hold on, don’t get rid of him. Just imprison him. That’s how we should handle things in the Dao Defense League. After all, he’s so strong that it defies comprehension.”

“Hmph! Patriarch Kingheaven and Winter Bloodless are actually protecting him! It makes it really hard to decide what to do.”

“Don’t worry, those two are crafty old foxes. They know that Dragon Proudheaven is a tricky fellow and that he has the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. They’re just trying to get on his good side, in the hopes of taking whatever good fortune he has. Believe you me, those two are more ruthless than any of you can imagine!”

“That’s right. Haven’t you heard the stories about Winter Bloodless? He resorted to all sorts of sinister schemes to win the spot of sect leader. He sent his Master, his Elder Brothers and Sisters, and even some of his own relatives into the Hell of Fresh Blood, where he transformed them into blood-god paleo-devils. He has eighteen of them now! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he plans to turn Dragon Proudheaven into the nineteenth.”

“Patriarch Kingheaven is no angel, either. Years ago, he raped one of his Junior Sisters, then covered it up by murdering the witnesses. When the matter came to light, he framed some of his fellow disciples. If Dragon Proudheaven is working with him, it's really asking a tiger for its skin!”

The old-timers meeting with Sectlord Nine Yangs were all top experts from other sects that hadn’t been present in the Heaven-Dao Operation God-Temple, but had heard the news.

All of them knew how important Yang Qi was, and they all generally agreed that he should be imprisoned.

Unfortunately, not only had he kidnapped Dragon King, but he’d also stolen the god dao seeds and the true godhood from the Tusita Heaven. He was obviously the rare, talented kind of person that almost never appeared in the world. Although everyone wanted to create a sandpiper, clam, and fisherman situation, they were still wary of taking any overt action.

“Well said, all of you,” Sectlord Nine Yangs said. Inside, he was thinking, ‘These crafty foxes don’t want to do anything. They just want to benefit. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up trying to curry favor with Dragon Proudheaven.’

At this point, one of the grand princes of the Tusita Dynasty spoke up. “Calm down, everyone. You’re worrying way too much about this brat. The only reason he managed to steal those god dao seeds is because he took advantage of a distraction created by Young Master Leaf’s people. Otherwise he would never have pulled it off. Besides, even though he got that true godhood, there’s no way he can assimilate it. Not even Demigod patriarchs can do that, much less him. If he tries, the godpower will kill him instantly.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Sectlord Nine Yangs said. “That little punk has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Regardless, the Nine Yangs God Sect and the Tusita Dynasty are on the same side here. You people need to provide us with some reinforcements, so we can go back down to the Dao Defense League to arrest Dragon Proudheaven and all the people he has working for him! Then you can get that true godhood back!”

“We need to avoid being unduly hasty,” another grand prince said. “He has the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, which will make him very difficult to deal with. The slightest mistake on our part, and he’ll just run away into that chart. Then we’ll never get our hands on him. On the other hand, we don't want any delays. That's why the Tusita Dynasty has already secretly begun operations to deal with him. The first thing we need to do is get King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions away from him. Or at least make sure they don’t function properly.”

“What?” Sectlord Nine Yangs said. “You can do that? If you could, you would be tying his feet together. We could kill him as easily as turning over our hands! Or better yet, make him live a life so horrible that he can only wish that he’ll die.”

“Well, that goes without saying. Right now, we’re putting together something called the Tusita True-Heaven God-Palace Calamity Formation, which the great god Tusita used to deal with other god-spirits in the ancient era. It will definitely be strong enough to suppress the powers of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. However, we know that the brat is very quick-witted, and if he suspects he’s in danger, he’ll vanish. So we think the best opportunity to use the formation on him will be during your duel in the Heaven-Dao Operation God-Temple. We can set it up there ahead of time, then spring it on him when he’s not expecting it. Kill him.”

“Grand Prince Honor-Glory is correct,” said another of the grand princes. “Unfortunately, there are old-timers in the Dao Defense League who support him, so making an open move like that is going to be difficult. That’s why we want Sectlord Nine Yangs to reach out to some of them. Convince them to shift their loyalties away from that brat, even if it's in secret.”

A smile broke out on Sectlord Nine Yangs’ face. “Rest your minds at ease! I can definitely handle that. That brat thinks everything is going his way, but his paltry skills aren’t enough to truly win the loyalties of the old-timers. They're just humoring him! How could anyone have any degree of closeness with someone who isn’t even a Godmyth?”

“Exactly,” said one of the old-timers from the Dao Defense League, a treacherous man with a long face who was called Daoist Myriad Meteors. He spoke with a sinister chill that made even the grand princes somewhat uncomfortable. “I bet Winter Bloodless and Patriarch Kingheaven are both secretly furious. They might seem like they’re protecting that brat, but considering how treacherous the two of them are, they’re definitely aiming to benefit from the whole thing. And considering that the brat acquired some true godhood, they’ll turn on him at a moment's notice. Now might be the perfect time to make a move.”

“That’s true, but we still need to be careful,” another grand prince said. “If he figures out what’s going on, our plan will fail. His Majesty wants that true godhood back, otherwise his godly ascension is going to be a problem. What’s more, the Tusita Dynasty is now facing a situation with Young Master Leaf and his seventy-one patriarchs. If conflict breaks out, who will you people support?”

“Well, it’s only natural that we’ll help the Tusita Dynasty!” Sectlord Nine Yangs said quickly. “We heard that the emperor has already stepped halfway into the level of the true gods. Soon, he’ll be on the same level as the legion of gods, and if we could have someone like that backing us, the Dao Defense League would never have any problems again!”

“Excellent. Truly excellent. Now, why don’t you all relax here for a moment? We’ll have some god dao seeds brought in that you can use as gifts to earn the support of the other sects, and maybe even some of the almighty old-timers who spend most of their time practicing cultivation out in primal-chaos.”

After certain pleasantries and formalities were tended to, the time came to leave. Rising to his feet, Sectlord Nine Yangs offered his farewells and led the other old-timers from the Dao Defense League out.

When they were all gone, the grand princes exchanged glances.

“The old-timers from the Dao Defense League are all treacherous and murderous. Unfortunately, we need them in our fight against Young Master Leaf. For now, the best thing is to pit those two groups against each other.”

“You’re right!”

“Some of the old-timers from the Dao Defense League are truly strong. But they’re still not as strong as those mysterious figures who hide out in the primal-chaos debris, most of whom hope to climb the Deathly Heavenly Stairway. We really need to get them under control. For all we know, they might have their eye on that true godhood.”

“The Dao Defense League won’t be easy to deal with. They obviously want to unite all of the immortal worlds, and at the moment we aren’t in a place to oppose them.”

“What about the God Dragon Tribe? What if they go cause problems with the brat and get his guard up?”

“The God Dragon Tribe is in contact with Sectlord Nine Yangs, so we don’t need to worry about that. Soon enough, Young Master Leaf’s brethren will be here to negotiate. We should be able to find out from them just how much of the essence of the Tusita Heaven Young Master Leaf has control over.”

**

Sectlord Nine Yangs and the others from the Dao Defense League were in a private room discussing the developments.

“These people from the Tusita Heaven can’t be trusted. We need to split up and start talking to all the old-timers who are on good terms with Dragon Proudheaven. Most importantly, someone needs to convince the God Dragon Tribe to join us.”

“Alright, let's get to work. When the time for the duel comes, that brat will be ours! In the end, we have to make sure that we get the true godhood. We can’t allow ourselves to be lackeys of the Tusita Heaven. And we need to get King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, too. In fact, why don’t we decide ahead of time how to split our profits? It wouldn’t be good to get in an argument after we win.”

“That's fine,” Sectlord Nine Yangs said coldly. “First, let’s get in touch with all the various patriarchs. Then we can discuss how to split everything up. Regardless of how it turns out, we have to screw over Young Master Leaf and the Tusita Heaven. In fact, the best outcome would be to use the brat Dragon Proudheaven to kill them!”

“You’ve really thought everything through. Come on, let’s get going!”

The patriarchs departed, leaving Sectlord Nine Yangs behind alone. Smiling viciously, he murmured, “Dragon Bone-Dao, king of the Bone Dragons. Dragon Devil-Killer, king of the Devil Dragons. You can come out now.”

RUMBLE!

Two immense draconic auras rolled out as experts from the Bone and Devil Dragon Tribe appeared. It was impossible to say when, but they had begun working with Sectlord Nine Yangs!

One of them looked to have a body made completely of bone, and the other pulsed with profound devil qi.

“Very treacherous of you to side with us, Sectlord Nine Yangs! Are you really planning to use those people to deal with the God Dragon Tribe?” King Bone Dragon asked, a sinister smile playing out across his face.

Sectlord Nine Yangs smiled. “Oh, no, nothing like that. I’ll be helping you deal with them myself. In the end, we can split the profits of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions and the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.”

Before any further discussion could play out, a voice reached their ears.

“So, you want the medallions and the chart? I have them right here.”